Modern Horror

From the makers of "Paranormal Activity" and "Saw" -- yeah, not exactly the greatest selling points for a movie (at least for us) but at least the latest from director James Wan isn't a shaky cam thriller or torture porn flick.

With the film already being eyed for Halloween season release we suppose it's about time the cast started getting together for the Ghost House produced horror pic "Dibbuk Box." Last week, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was cast in the pic and now Deadline reports that "The Closer" star Kyra Sedgwick has come aboard. She and Morgan will play a divorced couple "whose youngest child becomes strangely attached to an antique wooden box purchased at a yard sale. The girl's behavior becomes erratic and her divorced parents get the carvings on the box deciphered and find the box contains a spirit bent on devouring its human host." So yeah, might want to rethink...

The Answer Is Probably Not, But Hey, What The Hell...Our exhausting coverage of the films coming out in 2011 continues and yes, we're tired, hungry and a bit cranky. We used to call this our Least Anticipated Films feature, but this year our New Year's resolution was to be a tiny bit more positive. Frankly, the sentiment applies, but this is also the leftover films of 2011 we just don't know what to do with. Many of them look abysmal, some of us glass-half-full Playlist types (yes, there are a few among us) think, "hey, that picture might not be so bad," while other members of the group stare in shock that such an idea could be possibly float...

Sleepy-eyed Jeffrey Dean Morgan has signed on to open the "Dibbuk Box." The horror film, slated for a Halloween 2011 release, will showcase Morgan as "a recently divorced father whose youngest daughter becomes strangely connected to an antique wooden box she purchased at a yard sale. As his daughter's behavior becomes more erratic, the father senses a dark presence building until he discovers that the box was built to contain a dibbuk -- a dislocated spirit that inhabits and ultimately devours its human host." Based on a true story, the real life dibbuk box is said to contain a vengeful Jewish spirit and has reportedly haunted all of the box'...

Today we have our first full look at John Carpenter's "The Ward," the first film from the horror god since "Ghosts of Mars" back in 2001. This is the U.K. trailer, so when they say "Experience Terror From The Master" and then credit him as the man behind only "Halloween," we can only assume our good...

Once a year, The Playlist team stick their heads above the defensive parapet that is the first-person plural, and put our necks on the line. While there's a certain kinship between all the writers here -- we wouldn't be here if there wasn't -- there's also a real diversity of voices and taste, and w...

'Rio' and 'Water For Elephants' Also Shift While the original "Saw" isn't exactly a classic -- it's far too badly acted for that -- it's important to remember that in the light of the half-dozen increasingly awful sequels that it was, in its way, kind of an ingenious concept for a thriller, and dir...

Each year sees hundreds of movies released into theaters and inevitably, some will fall through the cracks. Our list of the underrated and underappreciated films this year not only highlights the solid, critically acclaimed pictures that for whatever reason never got a fighting chance, but also the imperfect pictures that still had a lot to admire, as well as the straight up guilty pleasures that, despite ourselves, put a smile on our face. At any rate, if you managed to catch up with all the Oscar pictures already and are wondering if there is anything else this year you missed that is worth catching up with, this is a handy guide to those f...

While 2009 seemed to burst at the seams with numerous ace soundtracks -- largely thanks to new films from Wes Anderson, Spike Jonze, Jim Jarmusch, Greg Mottola and Quentin Tarantino -- unless you were a “Twilight” fan, pickings were a lot slimmer this year for well curated songs in films (though, as you’ll see, there were some definite standouts). However, as if to compensate, composers stepped it up considerably with old reliables like Hans Zimmer, Clint Mansell, Carter Burwell and Michael Giacchino delivering the goods while left field surprises like Daft Punk and Trent Reznor shook up the stodgy old boys club with compelling, highly origin...